The Insider's Guide to Chip and Joanna Gaines' New Magnolia Network

Cooking show lovers, look what's here for you

She may not be a professional chef, but Joanna Gaines has proven to be a worthy successor to Rachael Ray and Ina Garten, with her homey and comforting cooking show Magnolia Table. Recipes — from French onion dip to Philly cheesesteaks — always seem approachable, but if you're looking for more of a challenge in the kitchen, the Magnolia Network library also includes 45 episodes of Julia Child's classic show The French Chef (boeuf bourguignon, anyone?). And on Family Dinner, Travel Channel host Andrew Zimmern hits the road to learn international recipes from families across America, including the Von Trapps in Vermont.

The network certainly has the potential to make Food Network–level stars out of its engaging new hosts, including Honduran American baker Bryan Ford (The Artisan's Kitchen), James Beard–nominated Southern chef and restaurateur Katie Button (The Katie Button Project, premiering Oct. 29), pastry chef and cookbook author Zoë François (Zoë Bakes) and seventh-generation cattle rancher Elizabeth Poett (Ranch to Table). And if you're more of an eating-out type than a home cook, you'll want to tune into The Lost Kitchen to see how Erin French opened her dream restaurant in her hometown of Freedom, Maine.

For Fixer Upper lovers, check out these shows about renovation and real estate

The Magnolia Network will of course be home to all five seasons of Fixer Upper, the show that started it all for Chip and Joanna, plus two new members of the franchise: Fixer Upper: Welcome Home, in which they return to their first love and tackle new home-renovation challenges, and Fixer Upper Rewatch, in which they comment on old episodes and answer viewer questions.

Beyond the Gaineses, you'll be able to learn about every facet of the home renovation process, with shows dedicated to single rooms (For the Love of Kitchens) and interior design (Mind for Design and Point of View: A Designer Profile), and with hosts that include newbie renovators (First Time Fixer) and an up-and-coming married builder-designer duo (Making Modern With Brooke and Brice, premiering Sept. 10).

And it's not just traditional houses that are getting flipped! You can stream a number of shows about building and renovating unconventional spaces: converting vans into tiny homes (Van Go), transforming a 20,000-square-foot schoolhouse into a family living space (Home Work), constructing elaborate backyard play places (Super Dad), and bringing high-design to rustic spots in the middle of the woods (The Cabin Chronicles). On Restoration Road With Clint Harp, the Waco, Texas, carpenter restores unique historical structures such as train cars and gristmills, while Where We Call Home profiles the families who live in unexpected spaces, including a converted school bus and an old firehouse.

For more extreme real estate, check out World's Most Secret Homes, in which homeowners introduce us to their secluded properties, such as luxury underground bunkers and cabins on remote islands. If these spots inspire you to plan a future vacation to somewhere adventurous, be sure to watch two shows with a travel angle to them: (Re)motel, which follows motor lodge owners as they reinvent retro properties, and Inn the Works, which tracks the renovation of the Oak Knoll Lodge in Big Bear Lake, California.

Oh yeah, there's gardening …

If you have — or wish you had — a green thumb, Magnolia features a number of shows dedicated to the fine art of gardening that just may have you ready to throw on a pair of overalls and stick your hands in some potting soil. On Homegrown, Atlanta-based gardener Jamila Norman teaches families how to farm in their own backyard, while Growing Floret traces Erin and Chris Benzakein's efforts to expand their family farm, where they grow rare and heirloom flowers in Washington state's Skagit River Valley. The Magnolia app also includes the 14-episode archives of Monty Don's Gardens, which follows the British horticulturist as he travels to some of the world's most beautiful little plots of paradise.

There's even … gasp … fitness coming from Magnolia Network!

One of the network's most inspiring documentaries is The Courage to Run, in which Chip Gaines trains for a marathon with the late professional runner Gabriele “Gabe” Grunewald, who continued to race after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. And on The Fieldhouse, Justin Bane helps clients transform their lives at his cutting-edge gym facility in Abilene, Texas.

Music? Art? Magnolia has you covered

Husband-and-wife musicians Abner and Amanda Sudano Ramirez have performed as the duo Johnnyswim since 2005, and they're bringing their family band to the Magnolia family with two different series: Home on the Road With Johnnyswim charts their three-month cross-country tour with their three kids in tow, while The Johnnyswim Show is an intimate look at their life off the road as they adjust to the realities of not touring during the pandemic. On Oct. 29, the network will welcome the premiere of Art in Bloom With Helen Dealtry, a how-to show in which the celebrated watercolor painter and textile designer teaches the tricks of her trade. Could it be the calming 2021 answer to Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting that we're all craving?

Heartwarming human interest (beyond their banter)

The Gaineses have a knack for uncovering folks with unique stories, and that skill is on full display in a trio of new shows about regular Americans doing great things. In Self Employed, entrepreneur and boutique hotelier Jonathan Morris profiles small businesses, such as a Mexican American-owned chocolate shop and a custom T-shirt maker. Hi I'm, meanwhile, introduces audiences to inspiring people facing unique challenges or breaking boundaries, including the first African American man to earn a doctorate in tuba performance and a 14-year-old with a traumatic brain injury who hopes to graduate high school and attend college. And Extraordinary Stories Behind Everyday Things celebrates the workers who craft iconic American-made products, such as Airstream trailers, vinyl records and baseball bats.

Nicholas DeRenzo is a contributing writer who covers entertainment and travel. Previously he was executive editor of United Airlines’ Hemispheres magazine, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Sunset and New York magazine.